Mohamed Abrini Admits to Being 'Man in Hat' in Brussels Airport Attack

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April 9, 2016, 5:27 PM GMT / Updated April 9, 2016, 11:35 PM GMT

By Cassandra Vinograd

The massive hunt for the "man in the hat" linked to the Brussels airport bombings appears to be over.

Belgium's federal prosecutor said that Paris attacks suspect Mohamed Abrini had confessed to being at the scene of the blasts in Brussels on March 22.

Speculation had been mounting since Abrini's arrest on Friday that he was the suspect pictured in surveillance video from the airport alongside two suicide bombers.

A handout image released on March 22, 2016 by the Belgian Federal Police shows a screen grab of the airport CCTV camera showing a suspect of Tuesday's attacks at Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, pushing a trolly with suitcases.HO / AFP - Getty Images

That video showed a man in a light-colored jacket and dark hat pushing a luggage cart loaded with a black bag at the airport.

Two other men pictured with the man in the hat — Najim Laachraoui and Ibrahim El Bakraoui — blew themselves up in the attack, leaving Belgian authorities searching for the third suspect.

Cassandra Vinograd is a Senior Writer and News Editor. Before joining NBC News, she worked as a London-based correspondent for The Associated Press and specialized in politics, foreign affairs and defense.

Vinograd previously worked as an editor for The Wall Street Journal in Brussels and London.

She has reported extensively from Afghanistan and on West Africa and the Middle East.